What next for Long Store?

A hot topic in Littleton this summer has been the fate of the Long Store, a 1730 building standing in the way of widening of Route 119 at the junction with Route 495.

Jeanne Munn Bracken

A hot topic in Littleton this summer has been the fate of the Long Store, a 1730 building standing in the way of widening of Route 119 at the junction with Route 495.

One town faction wanted to move the building as a whole onto a back lot of the site, buying time to find a permanent location for the structure. A second faction, while recognizing that keeping the building intact was a noble goal, argued limits on money and time didn’t allow moving the building.

The town settled on a compromise: Dismantle the building, preserving and storing important or interesting features. To date, the compromise appears to be the correct choice.

The contractors, The Restored Homestead, LLC, a Pepperell-based firm of licensed builders specializing in historic properties, have been dismantling the structure and have found some remarkable features — and some weaknesses.

“If the whole building had been moved,” said John Leger of the Historical Commission, “[we] probably would not have been able to move it in one piece.”

In addition, if the building had somehow been moved intact, the surprise features would possibly have been hidden for a number more years, until a final project to utilize them is conceived and funded.

In the colonial era, the largest trees were saved for the use of the King of England, no matter whose land they grew on. The builders of the Long Store sidestepped that requirement somehow and the floors on the upper level were made of boards almost two-feet wide. Hardwood flooring later laid on top during previous renovations concealed the boards until the hardwood was taken up.

Adjacent to the massive chimney, the contractors have found a deep, intact beehive oven hidden behind a wall. Whether it can be preserved or not is in question, but it is being well-documented by the contractors and the town. The Historical Commission said neither finding will impact storage of the dismantled building.